Which to use
“ago” is a postp and “amigo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,663
- “ago” frequency rank
- #35,806
- “amigo” frequency rank
- 68469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ago | amigo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Il y a (dans le passé). | Ami, camarade. |
Where the eye mixes ago and amigo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ago runs 3 letters (VCV) against amigo's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ago vs amigo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ago is \ə.ˈɡoʊ\ while amigo is \a.mi.ɡo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (postp vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ago is recorded at frequency rank #32,663, classified as apostp, pronounced \ə.ˈɡoʊ\. amigo is at rank #35,806, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.mi.ɡo\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 68469, this pair ranks #59,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ago vs amigo
Shared letters: ago. Private to "ago": -. Private to "amigo": im.
"ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "amigo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- amigo ← aimgo · amgio · amiggo · amiog · ammigo · maigo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ago" and "amigo" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "ago" or "amigo" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "amigo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ago" and "amigo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amiel vs amigo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #59,077 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.